Improvement in finishing ibon-woek of ploughs, stoves, pipes, levees, dams



gcfi h tetra iatmt @ffi SAMUEL P. TOWNSEND, 0F UNION COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

Letters Patent No. 65,306, dated Mity 2S, 1867.

IMPROVEMENT IN FINISHING IRON-WORK OF PLOUGHS, STOVES, PIPES, LEVEES, DAMS, (itc- TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL P. TOWNSEND, of the county of Union, in the State of New Jersy, have invented a new and improved Mode of Finishing Ploughs and other Iron-Work, as mantols and mantel ornaments, fireplaces, stove-plates and stove ornaments and stove furniture, fire-shovels, tongs, fire-irons, fenders, andirons, iron plates, and-iron for coveringplanks and timbers for building levees, dams, &o., coal-scuttles, kitchen utensils, hydrants, bathing-tubs, and similar vessels; also cast-iron pipe for water, gas, drainage, and other uses;

also iron and steel plates,- so as to produce thereon smooth surfaces, and to preserve them from damage by oxidation or corrosion; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

The nature of my invention consists in omitting the usual finish of iron or steel work by grinding, polishing, bluing, painting, varnishing, or otherwise, and instead thereof, to finish the same by dipping it in a bath of molten metal, known as a galvanizing both, so that smooth surfaces of such work may be obtained, and that water, gases, and other agents injurious to iron and steel may be excluded from contact with the surfaces of sue iron and steel work.

To enable others skilled in the artto make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its operation and use.

After the iron or steel Work is completed, except the usual finish by polishing, painting, or otherwise, and excepting such work as is made in separate parts, I make the surfaces clean and then immerse it, or the several parts, if such there be, separately, in a bath of fused metal, well known as a galvanizing bath, leaving it in the bath long enough to charge and coat the metal immersed, then removing it from the bath. The fused metal of the bath fills the pores of the metal subjected to its action, and coats the entire surface submerged in it, making the surface of iron or steel work smooth, and also impervious to water, gases, and other agents which corrode iron and steel. I

I In preparing the bath I prefer to use metals which have not too high a point of fusion, and which do not oxidize readily, as zinc and tin or other suitable metals. For coarse work I use about eighty parts of zinc and twenty parts of tin. For finer Work use a larger proportion of tin, and sometimes antimony, if the work requires a' hard surface, varying the proportions and kinds of metals according to the color and quality of finish required, without limiting myself to any particular proportions or descriptions of'metal, my purpose being to fill the pores and coat the surfaces of iron or steel work with fused metal or alloys to preserve such work from damage byoxidation or corrosion, and to make a finish which is smooth or easily made smooth and easily kept clean, and also to restore to good condition, by the same means, iron or steel Work which has been damaged by rust or corrosion. The metal of the bath will penetrate iron or steel and become incorporated or alloyed with them to a certain extent, making a surface and body to the same extent of much closer texture and greater density than that of iron. The alloys or metals I use for the bath oxidize very slightly, however long they may be exposed to thc action of air or water, either fresh or salt, and when properly applied present a beautiful smooth surface, onsilykopt clean, and also susceptible of a high polish. Long exposure only slightly (lime the color, but does not corrode the surface.

The iron and steel work of ploughs, including mould-board and share, and cultivator teeth or shares .so galvanized will be ready for use without scouring. Stoves and hollow-ware are also kept in good condition for use by the same means. Cast-iron pipe, for water, gas, or drainage, should be galvanized inside and out, and will thereby be protected against oxidation or corrosion, either in the ground or exposed to air or water, much more perfectly than by the usual mode of dipping or covering with coal tar, which, with the usual protection of asphaltuin paint, in a few years becomes useless for the purpose intended, by reason of extensive oxidation, particularly on the side exposed to the earth. Armonplates for fortifications may, by galvanizing them as described, be perfectly preserved from such damage for indefinite periods of time. Iron propellers, andthe iron work of other wheels for driving ships or vessels, and iron water-wheels and shafts, will be preserved in like manner by the same means; and slabs of iron so galvanized, or casings of sheet iron galvanized after they are made, and then filled with cement or plank of wood or other suitable substance, and placed upon their ends, edge to edge, so as to form a continuous sheet in a line of dike, dam, or levee, will form a durable barrier against the ravages of muskrats. crawfish, and other bur-rowers in such earthworks. A slab of cast iron, eight or ten feet long, ten or twelve inches wide, and half an inch to three-fourths of an inch thick, so galvanized, and a casing of sheet iron of similar length and width, and a clear inside space of an inch to an inch and a half tlliClx', galvanized and filled with ordinary hydraulic cement, are both suitable for such sheet piling. A line of such piling will be more economical, particularly in soft earth, than a Wall of clay, and, besides, will be proof against vermin which undermine such earthwork and by their perforations make channels for water to wash down such embankments.

Claims.

That I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is- I 1. The finishing of ploughs, iron-work for levees, dams, &e;, piling, and other iron and steel work, heroin mentioned, substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.

2. The restoration to good condition, by the means described, of iron and steel WOl'k which has been daniaged by oxidation or corrosion. 1

3. A new article of sheet piling, made substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.

SAMUEL P. TOWNSEND. Witnesses:

TAPPEN Townsnnn, HENRY PALMER. 

